The United States has seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday, escalating tensions between Washington and Caracas and pushing oil prices higher.

“We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, large tanker, very large, largest one ever, actually, and other things are happening,” Trump said, reiterating pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to step down. When asked about the fate of the oil, Trump replied: “We keep it, I guess.”

In response, the Venezuelan government condemned the move as “blatant theft” and an “act of international piracy,” vowing to defend its sovereignty, natural resources, and national dignity, and to raise the matter with international bodies.

This marks the first known action against an oil tanker since Trump ordered a military buildup in the region.

The US has previously targeted suspected drug vessels, raising legal and diplomatic concerns.

US Attorney-General Pam Bondi confirmed on X that the FBI, Homeland Security, Coast Guard, and military executed a seizure warrant on the crude oil tanker, used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran.

A brief video posted by Bondi showed helicopters approaching the vessel and armed personnel rappelling onto it.

While US officials did not publicly name the vessel, British maritime risk firm Vanguard identified it as the Skipper. The tanker had departed Venezuela’s main oil port of Jose between December 4–5 after loading roughly 1.1 million barrels of Merey heavy crude, according to satellite and PDVSA data.

The seizure affected oil markets, with Brent crude rising 27 cents to $62.21 per barrel, and US West Texas Intermediate gaining 21 cents to $58.46 per barrel.

Maduro addressed a military commemoration on Wednesday but did not directly comment on the tanker’s seizure.

Impact on oil?

Venezuela exported more than 900,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil last month, the third-highest monthly average so far this year, as PDVSA imported more naphtha to dilute its extra-heavy oil output.

Even as Washington increased pressure on Maduro, the U.S. had not previously moved to interfere with oil flows.

Venezuela has had to deeply discount its crude to its main buyer China, due to growing competition with sanctioned oil from Russia and Iran.

“This is just yet another geopolitical/sanctions headwind hammering spot supply availability,” Rory Johnston, an analyst with Commodity Context, said.

“Seizing this tanker further inflames those prompt supply concerns but also doesn’t immediately change the situation fundamentally because these barrels were already going to be floating around for a while,” Johnston said.

Chevron, which partners with PDVSA, said its operations in the country were normal and continuing without disruption.

The US oil major, responsible for all Venezuelan crude exports to the United States, last month increased crude exports to the US to 150,000 bpd from 128,000 bpd in October.

Increasing pressure on Maduro

Maduro has alleged that the US military build-up is aimed at overthrowing him and gaining control of the OPEC nation’s vast oil reserves.

Since early September, the Trump administration has carried out more than 20 strikes against suspected drug vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific, killing more than 80 people.

Experts say the strikes may be illegal.

There has been little or no proof made public that the boats are carrying drugs or that it was necessary to blow them out of the water rather than stop them, seize their cargo and question those on board.

Concerns about the attacks on the boats increased this month after reports that the commander overseeing one of the operations ordered a second strike that killed two survivors.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll published on Wednesday found that a broad swath of Americans oppose the US military’s campaign of deadly strikes on the boats, including about one-fifth of Trump’s Republicans.

In a sweeping strategy document published last week, Trump said his administration’s foreign policy focus would be on reasserting its dominance in the Western Hemisphere.

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s administration officially launched his “Trump Gold Card” visa programme on Wednesday to provide a pathway, with a steep price, for non-US citizens to get expedited permission to live in the United States.

The website Trumpcard.gov, complete with an “apply now” button, allows interested applicants to pay a $15,000 fee to the Department of Homeland Security for speedy processing.

After going through a background check or vetting process, applicants must then make a “contribution” – the website also calls it a “gift” – of $1 million to get the visa, similar to a “Green Card,” which allows them to live and work in the United States.

“Basically it’s a Green Card, but much better. Much more powerful, a much stronger path,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “A path is a big deal. Have to be great people.”

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said some 10,000 people have already signed up for the gold card during a pre-registration period and he expected many more to do so. “I would expect over time that we’d sell, you know, thousands of these cards and raise, you know, billions, billions of dollars,” Lutnick told Reuters in a brief interview.

Lutnick said the gold card programme would bring people into the United States who would benefit the economy. He compared that to “average” Green Card holders, whom he said earned less money than average Americans and were more likely to be on or have family members on public assistance. He did not provide evidence for that assertion.

Trump’s administration has pursued a broad crackdown on immigration, deporting hundreds of thousands of people who were in the country illegally and also taking measures to discourage legal immigration.

The gold card programme is the Trump version of a counterbalance to that, designed to make money for the US Treasury in the same way the president, a former New York businessman and reality television host, has said his tariff programme has successfully done.

Lutnick noted that there was also a corporate version of the gold card that allowed companies to get expedited visas for employees they wanted to work in the United States, for a $2 million contribution per employee.

• Move is first known tanker seizure since US build-up began.
• Signals new effort to go after Venezuela’s main revenue source.
• Its impact on global oil supply is unclear.
  

WASHINGTON: The US has seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, President Donald Trump said on Wednesday, a move that sent oil prices higher and sharply escalated tensions between Washington and Caracas

“We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, large tanker, very large, largest one ever, actually, and other things are happening,” said Trump, who has been pressuring Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to step down.

Asked what would happen with the oil, Trump said: “We keep it, I guess.”

Trump has repeatedly raised the possibility of US military intervention in Venezuela. This incident was the first known action against an oil tanker since he ordered a massive military build-up in the region. The US has carried out strikes against suspected drug vessels, which raised concerns among lawmakers and legal experts.

US Attorney General Pam Bondi posted on X that the FBI, Homeland Security and Coast Guard, along with support from the US military, carried out a seizure warrant for a crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran.

A 45-second video posted by Bondi showed two helicopters approaching a vessel and armed individuals in camouflage rappelling onto it.

Trump administration officials did not name the vessel. British maritime risk management group Vanguard said the tanker Skipper was believed to have been seized off Venezuela early on Wednesday. The US has imposed sanctions on the tanker for what Washington said was involvement in Iranian oil trading when it was called the Adisa.

The Skipper left Venezuela’s main oil port of Jose between December 4 and 5 after loading about 1.1 million barrels of Venezuela’s Merey heavy crude, according to satellite info analyzed by TankerTrackers.com and internal shipping data from Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA.

Oil futures rose following news of the seizure. After trading in negative territory, Brent crude futures rose 27 cents, or 0.4%, to settle at $62.21 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 21 cents, also 0.4%, to close at $58.46 per barrel.

Maduro on Wednesday spoke at a march commemorating a military battle, without addressing reports of the tanker’s seizure.

Impact on oil? 

Venezuela exported more than 900,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil last month, the third-highest monthly average so far this year, as PDVSA imported more naphtha to dilute its extra heavy oil output. Even as Washington increased pressure on Maduro, the US had not yet moved to interfere with oil flows.

Venezuela has had to deeply discount its crude in its main buyer, China, due to growing competition with sanctioned oil from Russia and Iran.

“This is just yet another geopolitical/sanctions headwind hammering spot supply availability,” Rory Johnston, an analyst with Commodity Context, said.

“Seizing this tanker further inflames those prompt supply concerns but also doesn’t immediately change the situation fundamentally because these barrels were already going to be floating around for a while,” Johnston said.

Chevron, which partners with PDVSA, said its operations in the country were normal and continuing without disruption.

The company, responsible for all Venezuelan crude exports to the US, last month increased crude exports to the US to some 150,000 bpd from 128,000 bpd in October.

Increasing pressure on Maduro

Maduro has alleged that the US military build-up is aimed at overthrowing him and gaining control of the OPEC nation’s vast oil reserves.

Since early September, the Trump administration has carried out more than 20 strikes against suspected drug vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific, killing more than 80 people.

Experts say the strikes may be illegal, since there has been little or no proof made public that the boats are carrying drugs or that it was necessary to blow them out of the water rather than stop them, seize their cargo and question those on board.

Concerns about the strikes increased this month after reports that the commander overseeing the operation ordered a second strike that killed two survivors.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll published on Wednesday found that a broad swath of Americans oppose the US military’s campaign of deadly strikes on the boats, including about one-fifth of Trump’s Republicans.

In a sweeping strategy document published last week, Trump said his administration’s foreign policy focus would be on reasserting its dominance in the Western Hemisphere.